The Holiday Season
by nikki.02
Summary: Lindsay proves to Danny that Halloween isn't just for kids...DL and FS


The Holiday Season: _Halloween_

_A little Halloween fic to start off the Holiday Season. Lindsay proves to Danny that Halloween isn't just for kids. DL and hints of FS_

The sweltering heat of the New York summer had finally subsided and gone to torment some other city, making room for fall to come. The leaves had slowly disappeared from their branches and the night was slowly growing, the days shrinking until the sun set at 6:30 PM.

While fall meant Halloween and candy for little kids and a night off work for parents, for the New York Crime Lab, Halloween was just another reason for bizarre murders that kept them up at night, working.

It was October 29th, two days before Halloween, and already they had received cases of people found dead in the strangest costumes: two bodies in a horse costume sewn together and a gigantic tarantula.

"So what are you going to be for Halloween, detective?" Lindsay asked with a grin as she strode into the lab that morning. Danny looked up from the microscope.

"You serious, Montana? Halloween? We're adults. We don't dress up and knock on doors for candy anymore," he chuckled, shaking his head.

"Come on! You guys don't even have an office Halloween party?"

"Nah, we're too cool for that kind of stuff."

Lindsay scowled. She didn't like it when people didn't see things her way. In this case, people meant Danny. "Halloween is fun!"

"Yeah, if you're eight."

"You are _impossible_!" she muttered under her breath and walked out of the lab in search of Stella.

Danny smiled to himself. He loved getting Lindsay angry.

**CSI:NY**

"Stell!"

Stella Bonasera turned around at the sound of her voice. "Hey Linds, what's up?"

"Nothing…I was just wondering if you guys celebrated…uh…Halloween around here?" Lindsay asked nervously. She sounded like a little kid begging her older sister to take her trick or treating.

Stella stopped and gave her a quizzical look, "Halloween? Not really…not here in the lab anyway. Why?"

"Danny--," Lindsay stopped herself, "I mean, I was just thinking that it would be a good way to relax for a night."

"You have to prove Danny wrong don't you?" Stella asked with a smirk.

"YES! He thinks Halloween is stupid!"

"Well, I guess. If we can get a venue and decorations and all that within two days," she shrugged. "Sure. Besides, I'm sure you can convince Danny to see things your way if you choose the right costume."

Lindsay froze, "Uh…what?"

"Come on, Linds. We all know how easy men are," she winked and walked away. "Besides, Danny loves you already anyway!"  
Stella disappeared around the corner and left a shocked Lindsay standing with her mouth agape in the middle of the hallway.

**CSI:NY**

Two days and many coffees later, Lindsay and Stella had managed to transform the largest break room into a spooky haunted house in time for the party. It took a while to convince Mac, but after seeing that the two wouldn't give up until he said yes, he finally gave them the okay.

"You are invited to the NYPD's first annual Halloween party…if you dare to come," Danny read aloud when he saw the decorative invitation sitting on his desk. Facing Lindsay, he laughed, "So this is going to be an _annual_ thing now?"

She nodded with a small smile on her face. "I know you think Halloween is stupid and that we're too old and all that stuff, but I think I know how to change your mind." Winking, she picked up a couple of folders and walked out of their office, leaving a dumbfounded Danny blinking.

Persuasion? The party could be interesting, Danny thought to himself. Making sure that he had enough of his work finished, he jogged out of the building in search of a costume.

**CSI:NY**

"Like what you've done with the place!" Don Flack called over the music to his 'coworker'. "Coffins, cobwebs, bats and spiders…feels just like home," he nodded approvingly.

"Thank you," Stella smiled, adding the finishing touches to the banner. "It was Lindsay's idea. Nice costume by the way."

She suppressed a giggle when she saw him in an oversized cape and glowing fake teeth that were too big for his mouth. "_Very_ handsome."

"You too," he said, gesturing to her floor length dress and long red fingernails. "Who knew that the wife of Dracula could be so hot? Planning on impressing any guy?"

"Only one," Stella smiled against Don's ear and placed a kiss on his lips.

"Oh, he's already convinced," he leaned in for another kiss, but Stella pulled away. "Is it the teeth?" he asked.

"No, the teeth are…fine," Stella laughed. "I just don't think it's a good time to tell the rest of the lab about…us. Yet."

"Yeah, it's scare them out of them out of their skin alright. I'll help you with the drinks. Be right back."

Watching her Dracula walk out to get the refreshments, Stella leaned against a table and sighed. Don Flack made his silly costume look amazing.

By 6:40 PM, the night of Halloween, most people had already arrived and were either dancing or chatting. Stella and Don stood off to the side, whispering to each other and laughing every now and then. Mac and Peyton had come as the James Bond couple…typical British. Poor Adam was stuck in a gigantic pepper suit with Kendall in the gigantic salt one. The minute the two saw what they _should've_ come dressed up as, the two spice shakers automatically started whacking each other with their short arms. Sid had gelled his hair so that it stuck up in all sorts of directions and borrowed one of the lab coats to look like a mad scientist and was chatting with a reluctant Hawkes next to the condiments table.

At around 7:00, Danny Messer walked through the doors in a…cowboy costume. Stella whispered to Don, "Why am I not surprised? Any ideas on who he dressed up for?"

"I guess we'll find out," Don pointed at the person who had just arrived a few minutes later.

"And I thought there weren't any cowboys in New York City," Lindsay drawled in a country accent as she approached Danny.

Danny turned around and nearly dropped the glass he was holding. Lindsay was dressed in a short denim skirt, a red flannel shirt rolled up to her elbows, and her normally wavy hair was in two braids. After seeing her mostly in her formal work wear and the one green dress that killed him, it was a nice change to see her in something else.

"Country girl," he chuckled under his breath.

"So? What do you think?"

"You look amazing," he blurted out. Lindsay's cheeks flushed a furious shade of red.

"Of the party, dumbass," she said.

"Pretty good…still need some convincing though," he waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

She smacked him on the arm. "Seriously!"

"Seriously," he stepped closer to her. She didn't move back. "I still need to be…persuaded."

Hesitantly, she titled her head up and pressed a kiss to his lips. Time seemed to be moving in slow motion as they finally did the one thing the lab had expected them to do the day they'd become partners.

"Convincing enough for you?"

When Lindsay drew back, Danny grabbed her hips and pulled her to him again until their lips were meeting again and again in frenzy. When the need for oxygen became too great, they pulled back, both gasping for air.

"Wow," Lindsay murmured under her breath. Danny ran his thumb across his lip, still not believing that they'd just kissed. Nervously looking at her, he flashed her one of his trademark grins and the atmosphere was instantly relaxed.

Dropping her head to his chest, she laughed weakly. "Do you think Halloween is still stupid?" she asked, her head facing his.

"So this party…" he asked leading her out the door and into the cool October night and hailed a cab. "It's an annual thing?"


End file.
